Ukraine's opposition leaders are preparing to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry, as violent anti-government protests continue to grow on the streets of the capital Kiev.

Mr Kerry said his message to the opposition would be one promising the ‘full support of President Obama and the American people’ ahead of his meeting next Friday with senior figures, including former boxer Vitali Klitschko.

The preparations come as Ukraine’s embattled president Viktor Yanukovich signed an amnesty for demonstrators detained during civil unrest and repealed anti-protest legislation in a fresh attempt to quell the increasingly violent demonstrations calling for his resignation.

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An opposition supporter warms himself next to a fire in a barricade near Kiev's Independence Square

Anti-government activists entertain themselves next to a fire at a barricade in central Kiev

Ukrainian riot police warm themselves around a fire near one of the protesters' barricades

An anti-government protester walks in front of a roadblock in Kiev's Independent square earlier today

Barricade: Protesters stare at riot police from behind a pile of rubble in central Kiev earlier this afternoon

Support: Vitali Klitschko speaks in front of a demonstration supporting the Ukrainian opposition during the 50th Munich Security Conference in Germany

The move by Yanukovich seems unlikely to bring the protests to an end, especially after prominent opposition leader Dmytro Bulatov appeared on television yesterday showing injuries he claims were inflicted during a week of torture, including crucifixion, at the hands of mystery kidnappers.

Many protesters rejected Yanukovich's amnesty outright because it is conditional on occupied buildings being cleared of activists.

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The 63-year-old leader, who looks increasingly isolated in a tug-of-war between the West and Ukraine's former Soviet overlord Russia, suddenly withdrew from view on Thursday, complaining of a high temperature and acute respiratory ailment. He was not seen in public yesterday.

Opposition leaders, citing fears for demonstrators' health from Arctic temperatures, urged their supporters not to take to the streets in large numbers for a weekly rally tomorrow.

But with some television channels continue to replay video of opposition Bulatov’s injuries, fury at the government shows no sign of letting up.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has pledged his 'full support' to the Ukrainian opposition

Anti-government protesters walk in Independence Square in Kiev this morning

An anti-government protester stands in front of tents and Ukrainian national flags on Kiev's Independent square early this morning

United: Anti-government protesters rummage for warm clothing (right) as temperatures plummet in Kiev. Ski masks (left) have become a common sight in central areas of the city

The uncompromising standoff, triggered by Yanukovich's decision in November to accept a $15-billion loan package from Russia instead of a trade deal with the European Union, prompted a rare intervention from the military yesterday.

The Defence Ministry urged the president as commander in chief to move swiftly and within the law to end the crisis.

‘The military and the Ukrainian armed forces ... called on the supreme commander to take immediate steps, within the framework of the law, to stabilise the situation in the country and reach agreement with society,’ it said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's first post-Soviet president warned that the country was on the brink of ‘civil war’.

A little girl stands on an anti-government barricade in Kiev. The city has been battered by violent street riots since late November 2013

Vitali Klitschko walks through a demonstration supporting the opposition in the Ukraine during the 50th Munich Security Conference in Germany

Community spirit: Protesters converse with each other behind the barricade in front of riot police in Kiev

John Kerry called for Russia not to intervene in the ongoing anti-government protests in Ukraine

Volunteers carry sandwiches to distribute among anti-government protesters near a barricade in Kiev

The military has emphasised its unwillingness to take sides throughout the unrest and seems concerned not to be drawn in.

One retired admiral, Serhiy Rybak, recalling Ukrainian troops' roles in peacekeeping after civil wars abroad was quoted as saying: ‘No political ambition is worth a drop of human blood,' he said.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen tweeted that he was 'very concerned by attempts to involve the military in the crisis" and added that the "military must remain neutral'.

At least six people have been killed, all in the past two weeks, and hundreds more injured in street battles between anti-government demonstrators and police, which have escalated sharply after the authorities toughened their response.

The crisis forced Prime Minister Mykola Azarov to resign this week, and as yet there is no sign of a successor. Serhiy Arbuzov, Azarov's first deputy and a close family friend of Yanukovich, has stepped in as interim prime minister.

Volunteers distribute sandwiches among the anti-government protesters near a barricade at the site of clashes with riot police in Kiev

Protesters clean the area near a barricade during the continuing protests

Azarov's departure will be welcomed by the activists, as he was a particular target of anti-government hatred

Underlining its economic leverage over
Ukraine, Moscow says a new government must be in place before it goes
ahead with a planned purchase of £1.2 billion of Ukrainian government
bonds.

The United Nations' human rights office called for an investigation into reports of kidnappings and torture, and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was appalled by signs of torture inflicted on Bulatov.

"All such acts are unacceptable and must immediately be stopped," she said in a statement.

Tents of anti-government protesters are seen at Independence Square in central Kiev

A city in flames: The opposition's meeting with the US comes comes amid ongoing violence in Kiev

Many protesters rejected Yanukovich's amnesty outright because it is conditional on occupied buildings being cleared of activists

Dmytro Bulatov is one of the leaders of anti-government protest motorcades called 'Automaidan'. He claims to have been tortured for a week by mystery kidnappers

A far-right nationalist group called Right Sector, seen as being behind violent clashes with police in Kiev, meanwhile demanded the release of activists held by police, threatening to take the law into their own hands to free their comrades.

"If they refuse, appropriate steps will be to taken to free these people and not only constitutional methods will be used," Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh told reporters.

Right Sector, a paramilitary group whose violent actions have appalled opposition leaders and peaceful protesters, also said it wanted to play a direct role in any negotiations for a settlement between Yanukovich and opposition leaders, he said.